Nigeria’s efforts to strengthen its human capital base received a fresh boost this week with the release of a landmark report highlighting the urgent need for investment in early childhood development (ECD) and nutrition.
The report, jointly developed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the World Bank, draws on the 2023/2024 General Household Survey – Panel (Wave 5) and provides the most detailed national picture yet of how Nigerian children are faring in their critical pre-school years.
Titled “Early Childhood Development in Nigeria: A Country Report using the General Household Survey-Panel (Wave 5)”, the report captures data from households across the country and, for the first time, includes indicators of preschool child development. It reveals strong links between nutrition, caregiving, health, and the cognitive development of children aged 0 to 6 years.
One of the report’s most striking findings is that only 4.5 per cent of stunted children aged 4 to 6 could write a simple word, compared to 20.9 per cent of their non-stunted peers—underscoring the cognitive cost of malnutrition. Stunting, which affects physical and brain development in early life, remains stubbornly high in Nigeria, especially in the North East and North West where prevalence exceeds 40 per cent.
“In zones where stunting is highest, fewer than one in ten children can demonstrate basic literacy,” the report states. “This has serious implications for school readiness and long-term learning.”
Speaking at the launch of the report in Abuja, Mr. David Babalola, the Supervising Director at NBS, described the survey as a national treasure that has steadily evolved to reflect critical development priorities. “The GHS-Panel is not just a data set; it is a story of where Nigeria’s children are coming from—and where they are headed if we don’t intervene,” he said.
Since 2009, the GHS-Panel has followed the same households over multiple years, providing reliable, nationally representative insights. It is part of the global Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS), implemented with technical assistance from the World Bank.
This is the first time Nigeria’s national survey has incorporated a validated tool to assess early childhood development—measuring literacy, numeracy, social-emotional development, and executive function among 4–6-year-olds. Executive function, which includes memory, focus and self-regulation, is considered a vital predictor of school success.
But the report also highlights stark inequalities. Children in urban areas and those whose mothers have more education consistently outperform their peers in rural areas. For example, fewer than 10 per cent of children in the North West and North East can write a simple word, compared to over 65 per cent in the South West. The literacy gap between urban and rural children was as wide as 34 percentage points.
Dr. Rifat Hasan, Practice Manager for Health, Nutrition and Population at the World Bank, said the findings reaffirm the importance of investing early. “The clock starts ticking from the moment a child is conceived,” she said. “The first 1,000 days from pregnancy to age two shape the foundations of life. The next 1,000 days either build on that foundation or break it.”
Also speaking at the event, Dr. Gbemisola Oseni, Manager of the LSMS Program at the World Bank, stressed the importance of cross-sectoral collaboration. She noted that the findings could help decision-makers from health, education, nutrition and social welfare sectors develop more integrated solutions.
Dr. Ritgak Tilley-Gyado, Senior Health Specialist with the World Bank, called for urgent action. “If we don’t act during this critical window, the economic and human costs will be staggering,” she said. “This data provides clear evidence of how malnutrition undermines brain development and future productivity.”
The report recommends five priority actions: placing nutrition at the centre of Nigeria’s human capital strategy; integrating ECD into development plans; shifting from siloed to multisectoral programming; tailoring interventions by region; and equipping frontline workers such as teachers and caregivers to better support early learning.
“With this data in hand, Nigeria has what it needs to make smart, targeted investments in the next generation,” the report concludes. “The real question is whether we will act in time.”
Numerous other ministries and agencies of government were in attendance alongside partners like the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCD), Global Financing Facility and NGOs and researchers working in the nutrition and early childhood space.